Introduction
The concept of a healing hospital focuses on alleviation of stress and other health risks for patients, health providers, and visitors in a health institution. Erie Chapman (2011) refers to a healing hospital as a center for love characterized by a series of positive encounters. These encounters are aimed at relieving stress that is an inhibition in the healing process.
Recognizing that the hospital environment is normally thought to be a place limited to diagnosing and treating illnesses and injuries, the intrinsic factor of alleviating stressors such as painful treatments and lack of personal freedom is addressed by the healing hospital concept. The new healing procedures can lead to prolonged hospitalization rather than undertaking complex medical procedures on patients recognizing the importance of touching the mind, body, and spirit and sustaining all-inclusive care through attention to patients and visitors’ dignity and privacy. The overall objective of a healing hospital is to improve the general well-being of patients and their immediate family’s mental, emotional, and spiritual concerns.
Within the milieu of a healing hospital environment, certain barriers and intricacies must be overcome to create an effective healing hospital. The objective of the paper is to examine these challenges, and most importantly, the components that distinguish a healing hospital from a regular hospital and their relationship to spirituality.
Components of a Healing Hospital
A healing hospital’s operations go beyond its physical structures. Its concrete culture of compassion and care distinguishes it from normal health institutions. A regular hospital only qualifies as a healing hospital when it meets the following three fundamental pre-requisites:
A Healing Physical Environment
A healing hospital does not just display compassion and care amongst its staff, the physical environment reflects the loving care objective too. Such a facility prioritizes not only how to care for patients would be improved, but also how its staff, as the caregivers, would interact with patients’ family members and other visitors. This undertaking recognizes that a loving, compassionate, and aesthetically pleasant environment enhances the healing process. A true healing hospital integrates aesthetic features, caring, and love to help patients handle the stresses of sickness.
Apart from the staff interaction with patients and visitors, several physical structures are put in place to fulfill the healing mission. For instance, patient rooms are designed to minimize noise intrusion. This construction model recognizes that to facilitate healing, then patients must be allowed to sleep. It is known that cells regenerate much faster when a person is asleep, hence repairing any tissue injuries. Hence, sleep is needed most in a hospital, and the healing hospital excels at creating a noise-free atmosphere to allow patients to sleep at their free will. Therefore, a low noise atmosphere is important for both the patients’ bodies and spirits.
Other noise control features include carpeting of hallways, fixing silencers to cleaning machines, use of the wireless phone by staff for direct connection with other staff, patients, and their families. A noise-free environment also promotes a tranquil, less stressful environment for the hospital’s staff. Medical staff requires a calm environment to work so that medical errors often associated with distractions are minimized.
The Integration of Design and Technology
This concept enables care providers to work more effectively, and with precision, to provide privacy and security for patients while not abandoning technology to enhance the healing process. Some of these design features include elevators that are only used by patients and staff thereby enhancing security and privacy. For instance, a patient on his way to a chemotherapy procedure does not risk running onto acquaintances. Patients warrant the dignity or maintaining their privacy during stressful periods (Henderson, 2006).
Technological advancements allow a healing hospital to provide the best care to patients and to speed up the healing process. Healing hospitals use the latest digital technologies in radiology, pulmonary testing, and cardiology. Medical staff can access patient data even if they are far away from their offices through electronic gadgets, thereby expediting decision-making and treatment (Eberst, N D).
A Culture of Radical Loving Care
Chapman (2011) stresses the importance of love in the healing process. Indeed, of the three components, radical loving care is the most important. This component is echoed in the Bible, in the book of Mark (Chap. 12: 13) that states “Love your neighbor as yourself” and Luke (Chap. 6: 31) which states that “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. These two verses, amongst many others, demonstrate the great importance of love for one another. It is very easy to create a healing physical environment and integrate work design and technology, but if the staff and management do embrace love amongst one another and towards the patients, then all will be in vain (Eberst, N D). This component reminds healthcare workers of their fundamental reason for opting for a healthcare career. It enhances the healing of patients through a holistic approach that satisfies not only the patients’ physical requirements but also the emotional and spiritual requirements (Henderson, 2006).
Challenges of Creating a Healing Environment
Due to the long-held notion that hospitals are solely meant to offer medication and treatment to patients, creating a healing environment is bound to face several challenges. For instance, a hospital’s staff may not find it easy to adjust to the new regulations, such as that of showing radical love to patients, which may lead to additional tasks. It is a known fact that some patients may misuse the hospitality of the care providers and demand more unnecessary attention and this may not go down well with some staff. The hospital may also require huge financial budgets to meet to pre-requisites for a healing hospital, such as noise-proofing the rooms and creating a noise-free environment.
Conclusion
A healing hospital is created on the central concept that love and spirituality are very important components in the healing process. This environment integrates both love and care in service delivery. However, it does not dump modern technology yet true excellence is created upon the most important principle of human existence- love for one another.
Although many health institutions only recognize service, integrity, safety, trust, and respect as the core values that should be observed by its staff and patients, the healing hospital concept recognizes that without love, the healing process will be hampered. And to transform a normal hospital into a healing hospital, its employees must embrace certain values that are closely linked to spirituality. Such employees must embrace the human spirit and integrate legitimate love, compassion, altruism, and self-sacrifice in their daily encounters with patients, visitors, and amongst themselves. For these values to be effective, there needs to be a continuous practice of caring from the hospital’s management to patients, from management to its staff, and among the staff members.
References
Chapman, E. (2007). Radical loving care: Building the healing hospital in America. Nashville, TN: Vaughn.
Eberst, L. (N D). Healing Hospital. Web.
Henderson, J. (2006). The Renaissance hospital: healing the body and healing the soul. Bolton: Yale University Press.